Coconut Point apartment project presents plans at Estero Design Review Board meeting

During a public information meeting Wednesday evening, the Estero Design Review Board had more compliments than critiques for the planning team of Edera at Coconut Point, the 180-unit rental apartment project being pitched for the corner of Via Coconut Point and Williams Road.

Design Review Board members said they liked the overall architectural design of the Coconut Point development area project and gave a few suggestions on how landscaping might be improved.

“I find it very nice,” said Joe McHarris, chairman of the Design Review Board. “It hugs the street. That internal access, as opposed to external access to the units, is much more luxury. And I think it's needed.”

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The project is a total of 13 acres, according to the village. 

The project team for Edera at Coconut Point said the apartment complex will be located on a 6.62-acre tract of the mall's development area and would have access to a second adjacent 6.44-acre tract to the south where a lake is located.

Edera's development team said proposed a walking path along the south tract lake. 

Edera at Coconut Point will have a mixture of studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments available for rent, said Alex Peters, a developer with 13th Floor Investments. 

Edera at Coconut Point would include 398 parking spaces, and 151 of those spaces would be under the apartment buildings. The remaining 247 parking spots would be at surface level. 

Developers have a number of responsibilities to adhere to under zoning conditions for the project, which include landscaping in the roundabout of Williams Road and Via Coconut Point, construction of a transit or school bus shelter, pedestrian connections and enhanced landscape buffers. 

Estero's zoning conditions for Edera also require that the developer provide bicycle parking, implement and maintain a bike-sharing program on the apartment complex's grounds and implement and maintain or participate in a trolley service to and from the apartment and Coconut Point. 

"If people want to go to Coconut Point, if they want to have dinner and drink a little, you can take the trolley back home or you can take it there. Again, it’s another one of these points where we are trying to say, 'this parcel is connected with Coconut Point,'" said Ned Dewhirst, senior vice president of Florida operations for Oakbrook Properties, which developed Coconut Point.

Public information meetings in Estero are designed to give residents a chance to provide feedback on developer proposals. The Design Review Board takes no binding action.

On Wednesday, no members of the public made comments about Edera. The project will return to the Design Review Board for an official public hearing at a later date.

The Edera at Coconut Point project last came before the village's Planning and Zoning Board and the Estero Village Council in July for a discussion on the property's zoning. 

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The Planning and Zoning Board deadlocked in a 3-3 decision over the development, but the village council ultimately approved the project. 

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Edera at Coconut Point will join a series of apartment complexes that have sprung up in the village.

A 2015 study commissioned by the community action organization Estero Council of Community Leaders found a dearth of affordable housing in Estero. The study also found that seniors wanting to scale down from single-family homes lacked relocation options in Estero.

At the same Wednesday meeting, the board approved the development order for Shoppes at Estero Grande, the more than 8,000-square-foot commercial component of the Estero Grande development, which is expected to include a Starbucks with a drive-thru. 

The Design Review Board approved signs for Lee Health Village at Coconut Point, the $140 million medical complex that is expected to open in south Estero later this year.